[sw-l] Learn SignWriting by Videophone ;-)

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
May 8, 2005

Learn SignWriting by Videophone continued...

Yesterday, May 7, 2005, was our first SignWriting presentation by
videophone! There were good and bad points, and some of the bad can be
fixed quite easily, now that I understand it better.

How did it work?

1. The technicians at the school gave me their IP address (broadband
internet connection address). I then programmed that IP address into my
videophone, so I could call them.
2. We did a quick test run together about an hour before the class
started, and I thought all was in order, because at the time of the
test, the interpreters could hear my voice, and they could see me
signing, and I could see their computer screen and I could see where
they were on the computer....
3. So we hung up and then I called them exactly at 1:10pm in the
afternoon.
4. I sat in front of my TV set. I had to made sure that I was not on a
chair with wheels, because if I moved, by accident, they would not be
able to see me, so I had to position my chair just right.
5. Kevin, the Deaf teacher, started by introducing me, and I could see
him clearly because he was standing in front of their camera lens. Then
he panned the room for me, so I could see 30 students sitting at their
desks!!! Everyone waved hello! That was really amazing!
6. But after that it started to get complicated, because there were 2
interpreters. We decided they would sign while I voiced, but then
suddenly the audio became jumpy...the picture was PERFECT...but I did
not have a good audio....I needed a better microphone and they could
not always hear my voice clearly...So I ran and found a normal voice
telephone and hooked it to the videophone and held the receiver to my
ear and spoke into the phone and suddenly the interpreters could hear
me fine...so the telephone acted as a microphone...but then it was hard
for me to sign when I wanted to, because I had to hold the phone to my
ear...

But now I see that the D-Link videophone company has microphones and
other equipment that I could purchase to make this experience
better...so I will not let the audio be a problem again...

Normally, with my Deaf friends, I use no audio at all...This is only a
problem when we are trying to teach a group of people with
interpreters...

More next message...

Val ;-)